As you remember these fallen officers, take comfort in recalling that they dedicated their lives to the same principles of honor, duty and courage that brought you to the badge. Such a life is truly rich. Take strength in knowing that when an officer falls, our resolve to serve those in need is not diminished. Our dedication to protecting those in danger is not weakened. Our commitment to remembering those with whom we shared the badge does not fade.

Godspeed, brothers and sisters. You fought the good fight. Now rest in peace…

She was in "very serious condition" and in surgery early this morning, Police Chief Gilbert Gallegos said.

The gunfire sent officers on a foot chase down Central Avenue, where they eventually shot and killed an as-yet unidentified man suspected of wounding Oleksak, Arbogast said.

Homicide investigators did not release the man's name early this morning, because they were still trying to notify his family about the fatal shooting, Arbogast said.

With heavy hearts, more than 50 detectives and officers from the police and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department carefully analyzed the four-block crime scene and searched for evidence.

"We're all praying she'll pull through and won't suffer any serious, long-term damage," Remington said at the scene.

"Anytime an officer is shot, it's a real blow. But because she was so dedicated and committed to the people she worked with, this is very hard to handle."

Oleksak's mother and sister huddled at University of New Mexico Hospital with Police Department leaders, praying she would recover, Gallegos said.

"They are relying on their faith and their religion to comfort them in this difficult time," Gallegos said at the hospital shortly before midnight, appearing worn by the emotional evening. "We're all pulling for her. She's always been a tough officer, but this is by far her biggest test."

Events began when Oleksak fielded a routine call shortly before 7:30 p.m. about a suspicious, threatening man in the Walgreens parking lot on Central Avenue and Girard Boulevard Southeast, Arbogast said.

Witnesses, including Padilla and her daughter, heard shouting shortly after Oleksak's cruiser pulled into the parking lot adjacent to Mannie's Family Restaurant.

"The yelling wasn't that big a deal, but then I heard at least six bullets that sounded quick and loud," Padilla said.

Arbogast could not confirm how many times Oleksak was hit, but did say at least one bullet struck her in the head or face.

He also could not confirm whether Oleksak was wounded with her own gun.

Padilla, along with neighboring business owners, watched the suspect shout at Oleksak while she lay on the ground wounded next to her police cruiser.

"Then he grabbed his backpack off the ground and did the strangest thing," business owner Louie Torres said. "He walked casually down the street. He didn't run; he walked. It was like he didn't even care."

Torres, the 41-year-old owner of Louie's Rock-N-Reels on Central Avenue Northeast near Richmond Drive, didn't think the man walking away from the scene was a suspect until officers began running after him.

"He was about a block away from the scene walking east on Central when I heard him shout, `That'll teach you, bitch,'" Torres said. "Then he pointed the gun over his left shoulder and fired a shot without even looking back."

Angered by what he saw, Torres ran back into his store and grabbed the only weapon he thought might distract the suspect until police could catch up with him: three videotapes.

"They were the heaviest thing I could find that I thought would slow him down, so I threw them across the street," Torres said. "It was stupid because he could have shot me, but I was so mad that he did this. I've worked here for eight years, and no one has ever attacked my community like this. It just wasn't right."

None of the videotapes hit the suspect, but one landed right in front of him. They did little to slow the gun-wielding man, who, Torres said, continued walking defiantly down the street.

The suspect, whom witnesses described as a relatively clean-cut man in his mid-20s, continued east on Central Avenue and crossed Richmond Drive.

Torres said the man then fired two more shots blindly over his shoulder.

C.O.P.S.

TASER Foundation

The TASER Foundation’s mission is to honor the service and sacrifice of local and federal law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty by providing financial and edcuational support to their families.